


Cruella De Vil, That's It!

by KnightsofEclipse



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Not Canon Compliant, Should tag more characters for mentions, basically transcripted from canon at times, more than hints at sexy time?, not smut, teased EvilCharming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-27 15:59:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14429097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnightsofEclipse/pseuds/KnightsofEclipse
Summary: Slightly AU that fits neatly into the canon timeline. David touches the unicorn mobile in Gold's shop and vaguely remembers a lot of things. The imagine of Cruella De Vil being the only thing that sticks. David becomes obsessed with Cruella until the curse breaks and canon ensues.





	1. Chapter 1

David’s hand brushed lightly over the glass unicorns, drawing his mind and memory away from where he stood and why he was there. Images, like lightning behind his eyes, flashed in quick succession. Faces, of people he knew in his day to day life as well as not, memories, that felt like they belonged to another person but were so unmistakably his, and emotions, both ones he could name and ones he could not.

A hundred years could have passed and he’d not have known, completely consumed by this amazing sensation. All too soon, he returned to the then and now as a voice gripped him again. “Charming.”

David turned, his contact with the mobile breaking, to see the owner of the voice; a cleanly dressed man, older than himself, who held himself up by a cane. “I’m sorry?” David was unsure whether his apology was for whatever he had just experienced, clearly a personal moment in front of a stranger, or a polite way of asking for clarification of what this man meant.

The shop owner relaxed his stance. “The mobile. Isn’t it charming?” Despite the plainness of his words, David felt the man was implying something more. “Exquisitely designed.”

David’s mind wandered, his body going into autopilot, his eyes drifting back to the glass. Casually, as if it were just part of the conversation, he let his fingers just graze the surface of the crystal creatures once more. Like a movie that couldn’t keep to one medium memories played out for him, drifting perfectly between still life, stop motion, live action, and animation. He couldn’t make sense of them. He didn’t try. He felt himself mumble, “Yes, I remember,” before his hand fell away. The last image, burned into place on his retina, was that of a woman.

No, not just a woman. There was something more. He only saw her for a moment but he was certain from this moment forth he would remember her. Every little detail of her intrigued him. The sense of familiarity, but also the unknown. Her name was on the tip of his tongue. But attempting to voice it made him frown and ponder. He knew the name. And it was so undoubtedly her name. But the name so completely belonged to another he couldn’t comprehend how it could describe this magnificent creature.

That was it then. He slammed his fist into his open palm as the toll bridge came into view. He was just going to have to find this Cruella De Vil.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a terrible game he played. He was just being selfish, really. But it felt so damn good, he couldn’t possibly stop. And, so long as he was diligent, no one was getting hurt. Sure, there were days when he wanted to reprimand himself and just have a normal relationship. But that part was always silenced by the image.

The image of Cruella De Vil kept him sane and on his mission. Even with the relationship drama he was caught in, his mind was only on her. At first, Mary-Margaret had commented on his strange behaviour, he had had to be crafty to dodge that bullet.

He smiled to himself, remembering how he had smoothed things over by shamelessly suggesting they make love to the live action 101 Dalmatians movie. It hadn’t been quite right, but it was still so good. From there, he had dared to fantasize while he was with Mary-Margaret. Imagining he was thrusting into his flawless Cruella made it all the more exhilarating. He just had to be careful climaxing, taking the time to remove himself from the moment so that he could remember who was really having sex with.

It didn’t take long before he found himself at the library, looking for more instances of Cruella. That was where Henry happened upon him. “What are you doing?”

David almost couldn’t find words to explain to the mayor’s son his desperate need to find Cruella De Vil. “It’s nothing. You’ll think it’s crazy.”

“No, I won’t.” Henry thumped his book bag onto the table among all of David’s copies of 101 Dalmatians. “Try me.” The half pint was persistent. 

David rubbed his head. “It really sounds crazy when I saw it out loud,” he sighed, giving in to Henry’s puppy dog eyes. “I’m looking for Cruella De Vil.”

Henry’s face lit up. “You remember! Have you told Miss Blanchard or Emma yet? This will make Operation Cobra that much easier!” He jumped up, collecting his book bag rather haphazardly, knocking the storybook to the floor.

As the ornate book hit the grown, spine first, it fell open to a familiar scene. David dove for it before Henry could retrieve it. “That’s her!” He skimmed the story. Most of it went in one ear and out the other, so to speak, but he did glean from it how Cruella’s speech pattern must have sounded. “Thanks, Henry.” He handed the book back to the child in a daze, heading purposefully to find Mary-Margaret.

The school teacher was surprisingly open to the idea of roleplay. She adopted the accent he requested, peppering her speech with calling him ‘Darling’. And David no longer felt the need to hold back, nor felt quite so guilty climaxing shouting Cruella’s name.

Even so, he knew, at the bottom of his heart and in the darkest reaches of his mind; he would always long for the real Cruella De Vil.


	3. Chapter 3

“You have a lot of nerve getting mad at me!” Snow threw her hands up. “All _I_ did was date someone. You,” she pointed an accusatory finger at David, “you convinced me to dress up as a villain. Not just any villain, no, Cruella De Vil!” The monstrous look she gave him was reminiscent of that of a villain. “All to fulfill your messed up sexual fantasies! How charming!”

David was barely listening. He was disgusted with what he had done. He didn’t know how she could even bear to look at him. His stomach turned at the arousal he felt for the villainous look on Snow’s face.

“David, are you listening to me?” Snow’s hiss broke through his slowly lewd turning train of thought. “David,” her voice, and face, grew gentle, “After what we did,” she refused to specify, he guessed due to her own shame. “Cruella deserves better than for you to treat her like some fetish.”

David hung his head. “I know,” a heavy sigh left his chest. “We were cursed. Neither of us knew any better.” He reached out to catch Snow by the shoulder. The princess turned away. “What is it?”

Snow shook her head. “It’s silly.”

David cupped her chin, bringing her close until their foreheads touched. “And us fighting isn’t?” he countered.

Snow looked deeply into David’s eyes, trying to judge his answer before she had even voiced the question. “Okay.” She took a step back. “Is it possible, and don’t take this lightly,” she took a deep breath. “Is it possible that you could love her?”

David’s mouth fell open. “Love her? Cruella?” He wanted to laugh. He wanted to push every thought since he woke from his coma away. He wished he could answer the question just as Prince Charming. Prince Charming had the right answer. David Nolan had an answer, but he was certain it was one that no one wanted to hear. 

So this was where the moral dilemma sat. He was a hero at heart. Heroes always told the truth. But the truth wasn’t what was best for everyone. It was decided then; the situation called for some creativity. He was going to have to lie.

He recomposed himself again, stroking his stubble as if it were a full beard. “I guess, maybe,” he paused for effect, picking up before Snow could show any outrage, “If she weren’t a villain.”


	4. Epilogue

“I’m sure you do,” David couldn’t get much more out before he was assaulted by Cruella’s lips. The kiss didn’t last more than a couple seconds but, wow, it was everything he had imagined.

Cruella spun around to seat herself on David’s lap, practically purring. “So, Sheriff. What would you like to try first? The champagne,” her voice grew rough, “or me?”

As if to punctuate his rising ‘enthusiasm’, she popped the topper out of the bottle. Her laugh that followed was sexual. His, however, was nervous. How long could he pretend to be his brother? More importantly, what was he to do when she saw through his ruse? 

His dumbfounded expression remained in place, his own train of thought surprising him. Yes, he loved Snow, that was undeniable and not changing any time soon. But Cruella. Her very mention was what kept him up at night, even now. 

“Come on.” Cruella had the champagne poured and was practically forcing a flute down his throat. “Drink up like a good boy.” The guttural purr of her voice was almost too much. She punctuated her sentence with a kiss to his cheek.

“I, uh, I have to get up for an early patrol.” He tried his best to keep up the sexy atmosphere while still denying the drink. He couldn’t trust himself once alcohol was introduced into the equation. “Fresh souls arriving,” he added for good measure as she leaned in to start peppering kisses along his jawline. “Always someone new to shake down.”

Cruella made a sound halfway between a moan and a sigh. “Is Mummy boring you, James?” She got a playful, yet surprisingly strong, grip on his chin. “Normally you’re so much more,” her gaze fell momentarily, “enthusiastic when I come,” a kiss to his cheek, “to visit you in your dungeon.” Her gaze darkened before lighting up suddenly. “Ooh… Maybe,” she reached across the desk, returning with his handcuffs dangling from a finger, “we need to try spicing things up with a little hardware.”

She leaned in to kiss him once more, this time going for something deeper and more sensual. In David’s mind, it was the truest action she had produced since entering the room. It was like, in that moment, she had laid herself bare before him, made herself completely vulnerable to him, and silently asked that he might trust her enough to do the same. But he couldn’t. It was most certainly not because he didn’t want to. Oh god, did he want to. But there was that pesky sense of heroism again. And as before; creativity was the answer.

As Cruella trued to get a bit friskier with the kiss, David scooped her up and swapped their positions. Setting the villain on the edge of the desk, he freed himself from her clutches. “Does that act really work on him? Because, frankly, I find it repulsive.” Had he laid it on thick enough?

“Oh boo,” Cruella said flatly, as though in regards to something far more mundane than the situation before her. “Couldn’t you have pretended to be Jimmy a little while longer?” She moved to fix her hair, clearly already bored with his charade. 

“Wait.” David’s stomach dropped. “You mean, all this time, you knew?”

“Well, of course, I knew.” Cruella continued to straighten out her appearance. “But, tell me, Your Majesty, was it worth it?”


	5. Chapter 5

The hardest part about not having his memories, David was finding, was that he couldn’t – not for the life of him – pick a channel to watch. He always had that vague feeling like he had seen this, or he had missed an episode of that. It was the worst. He was angrily pushing the next channel button on the remote when Kathryn descended the stairs.

“David, I need your help,” Kathryn sighed, like she couldn’t believe it had actually come to this. She waited, patiently, about 2 or 3 steps from the bottom, for David to turn his head. “Dr. Whale is putting together a costume party for the town. I know,” she held up her hands defensively, “that you’re dead set on not dressing up.” She rolled her eyes. “Just like every year,” she added, mostly to herself. “I just,” she changed her mind, “I don’t know what I was thinking. I’ll figure it out.”

She started her way back up the stairs. David squinted at her as she slowly moved from view. A costume party? “Kathryn!” he called out before words had even made themselves clear in his head. She leaned back, so that she could see him, but made no move to come back down. “What about Cruella De Vil? You look great in fur.” Such a thinly veiled excuse.

Kathryn visibly contemplated the idea for several seconds, remaining frozen in her awkward lean against the rail. “Okay. Cruella De Vil, that’s it.” She smiled earnestly. “Thanks, David. I knew I could count on you.” David returned the smile, giving a small chuckle that must have looked like appreciation.

\--+--

David slid into the booth opposite Emma and Henry, next to Mary-Margaret, just as the young boy was exclaiming; “Halloween is weird.”

Emma elbowed the child, indicating his breakfast. “Less talk, more chow, kid. You and Mary-Margaret have to get to school.”

Mary-Margaret took her cue to turn to David at that. “Are you going to Whale’s party?” She did her cute, flustered thing where she made circles with her hands to indicate the person in front of her. “Henry thinks I should go as,” she made aggressive eye contact with Emma, “Snow White.”

“Kind of cliché, if you ask me.” David laughed, reaching over to steal a strip of bacon off Henry’s plate. “How about Cruella De Vil? Classic Disney still, and no one would expect it from you.”

Emma nearly choked on her cocoa. “Cruella.” Her eyebrows raised, silent judging painting her lips into a smirk. “To each his own.” Her eyes caught the clock. “Oh, shit! Kid, we gotta go!” David moved to allow the trio to leave, saddling him with the bill in their hurry.

\--+--

“You didn’t just call me to move boxes, did you, Regina?” David set the last of said boxes on top of the others and made a show of wiping the sweat off his brow.

Regina shifted, wrapping her arms around her waist. “David, we’re friends, aren’t we?” She looked more like a nervous teenager than the confident mayor who had returned him to his wife.

“Of course,” his tone was upbeat but his face molded into a serious expression.

Regina quickly unfolded her arms and looked at him with a concerned expression. “It’s this stupid party. Henry is already convinced I’m the Evil Queen. But everyone expects the nines from me. I’m just,” she exhaled heavily, “conflicted.”

David nodded, folding his own arms to hug his elbows. “I see. Well, why not surprise everyone then. Go as a different villain. Why not, say, Cruella De Vil?” 

Regina looked to freeze, as if she had stared into the eyes of Medusa. When she finally took a breath, her words were measured. “I,” she squinted, “guess,” she held the s, “that’s,” she came around the the thought, “not a terrible idea.” She was back to being the nervous teenager again, “I’ll think it over.”

\--+--

David did not regret his choice. Was it stupid? Yes. Did he realize what he was doing when he was doing it? Only after he did it. In the moment he was being honest and, what he believed to be, helpful. 

So, when Kathryn, Mary-Margaret, and Regina all turned up at Whale’s party dressed as Cruella De Vil he was not surprised they were all mad at him. He deserved it. He probably would have come out of the encounter black and blue if it had not been for Ruby.

Ruby, his new patron saint, had also come dressed as Cruella. Of her own accord. In no relation to his suggests to the others. She had rallied the troops, so to speak, and paraded the Cruellas around the party as a group costume. She called it “The Four Cruellas of the Apocalypse”.

When things had settled down a bit more; each woman approached him to apologize for their reaction. At the end of the night David and Kathryn went home. Needless to say, the costume did not come off.


End file.
